NEWS / 2011

Ofri Cnaani’s “Sota Project” at Rotschild 69 Gallery

The Sota project is an immersive, multilayered video installation that reenacts a controversial text from the Talmud. A tale of two sisters, bound together in symbiotic loyalty that unfolds in both time and three-dimensional space. Housed in an expansive, unique exhibition space of Rothschild-69, Ofri Cnaani’s ambitious piece invites viewers to step into room-sized moving panoramas, and walk through an enigmatic and disturbing ancient story that had hardly been told. Sota, an anonymous Biblical story, recounts the tale of two sisters, Sota and Bekhorah, who are bound together in symbiotic loyalty when Sota’s husband accuses her of infidelity, against a backdrop of jealousy, betrayal, judgment, ritual humiliation, and ultimately death. In the contemporary adaptation of the Talmudic tale Cnaani crafted a theatrical environment that enables several plot lines to evolve in parallel while addressing contemporary themes such as siblings, intimacy, identity exchange, adultery, and semen theft. In the lead roles, Moshe Ivgi, Keren Or, and Tali Sharon, play the husband and impersonating sisters. The work challenges the idea of a unified and coherent truth and encourages private translations in the common viewing space. The viewers are always surrounded by images and thus cannot behold every aspect of the story and are therefore forced to transform themselves into active storyteller who must take sides. Overall, the “Sota Project” creates transgressions within the accepted consensus of theatrical genre, video work displays, and viewership customs. The Sota Project is a collaboration between Rothschild69 and Kunsthalle Galapagos in New York, where the project was first exhibited. The exhibition will be accompanied by a one-day seminar on June 27th, at 12 Rothschild Blvd. The seminar will discuss theoretical themes from the project and beyond. Additionally, a unique book, inspired by Talmudic tradition will be published sternthalbooks.com/Sternthal books.co.il